“Aren?” Finan calls out, stepping from the forest. “We have to go.”
“One minute,” Aren turns to say to him, and then refocuses on me. He leans in close, touching his lips to mine. “I’m leaving Wes and Marisa behind to watch the house. Troy is staying a wolf. He’ll be around. Marisa knows how to fight. She’ll protect.”
“I’ll stay with the pups.”
“And once I’ve ripped this asshole's head off, we’re going to talk.”
I tilt my head, curious. Aren isn’t the talking type. In the time I’ve known him, he’s more about acting first, then maybe talking after. “About?”
“A better way to deal with ferals.”
I blink at him, surprised. “Are you asking for myhelp, Wolf King?”
His eyes flare with heat, and it’s clear he likes the name. “I am. You don’t call me that often enough.”
“Don’t get excited. I like to ration those Wolf Kings. I know how much you like it.”
His grin is so gorgeous, I struggle to believe he’s my mate. “Stay safe. I’m not sure what I’d do without you.”
“You’ll manage just fine.”
His amusement fades. “No. I won’t.”
For one charged moment, we look at each other, and I see so much emotion in his eyes: heat, need, desire… and something more. Something that makes my heart squeeze.
Rising to my tiptoes, I touch my lips to his. “We’ll talk.”
He deepens the kiss, turning it into a passionate one that leaves me breathless, then releases me to step back. “And no going near the feral, okay?”
“I’m just watching the pups until you get back, that’s all.”
“Good.” He flashes me a grin and turns to walk away.
A surge of desperation floods my body.
What if Cristofer set this trap for him?
Cristofer killed every single guy I had any relationship with back in college. They were exes. But Aren isn’t an ex. I can’t lose Aren.
I grab the front of his shirt and yank him back. “Don’t let anything happen to you.”
I’m not sure my heart could take it.
His eyes soften. “Yes, ma’am.”
I let him go, and he walks toward the forest where Finan and the rest of his enforcers are probably waiting for him.
He strips as he walks, and I sigh at the sight of his strong, tanned, muscled back.
“You could have waited until you were in the forest to do that,” I call after him.
He throws his shirt onto the ground and turns to smile at me. I swear the guy does something to his pecs to impress me. “I could have, but you enjoy looking, and I like you to watch.”
He shifts faster than I’ve ever seen anyone change before. My wolf has always been a part of me, half of my soul. When Arenshifts, there is no blur between his two selves. He is both: wolf and man.
It’s beautiful. Fluid, fast, and incredible to watch, and a part of me is a little jealous of how seamless his shift is.
I wait until he’s disappeared into the forest, swallowing the dread in my belly and telling myself that whatever this is, is nothing. Just paranoia.
